The David Bowies of the watchmaking world – the brands that still rock today
Blancpain, Chopard and Breguet – three brands that continue to drive original designs
So unless you’re over the age of 30 or live under a rock or don’t have Snapchat (or all three in my case), Harry Styles has a new album out and, you know what? ... it ain’t half bad (is what I told myself in the first week at least). Young Harry, once of boy band One Direction, has gone all “legit” and is writing his own songs and playing his own instruments, if we are to believe the lame stream media (and who does these days? That doesn’t mean you should stop reading). And, yes, his David Bowie and Elton John- influenced songs are, actually, quite good. But therein lies the problem and it took me a week to get there. Why bother listening to someone cribbing Bowie’s glam years in a rather functional way when you can just listen to the original?
Finally, we have something new and something blue from Breguet, the Betty White of the watch industry, in the sense that everyone loves it. I won’t go into Breguet’s ludicrously long and storied history, but I will say the brand is always looking forward and the Marine 5887 is testament to that. This is simply a gorgeous watch. The nautical-but-nice design is playful but not overly whimsical and shows off the tourbillon as well as the wealth of indicators. This 43.8mm platinum-cased watch features an equation of time indicator and a perpetual calendar. It will set you back HK$1.8 million but this is a collectors piece and one for the ages.